1074 
7h* RURAL. NEW-YORKER 
August 9, 1924 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BUSINESS FARMER'S PAPER 
\ National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes 
Established isso 
Published weekly by the Kura! Publishing Company, 833 West 80th Street, New York 
Herbert W. Collinowood, President and Editor. 
John J. Dillon, Treasurer and General Manager. 
Wm. F. Dillon, Secretary. Mrs. E. T. Hoyle, Associate Editor. 
L. H. Murphy, Circulation Man ager. _ 
SUBSCRIPTION : ONE DOLLAR A YEAR 
To foreign countries in the Universal Postal Union, 82.04. Remit in money 
order, express order, personal check or bank draft. 
Entered at New York Post Office as Second Class Matter. 
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advertisers unknown to us ; and cash must accompany transient orders. 
“ A SQUARE DEAL” 
We believe that every advertisement in this paper is backed by a respon¬ 
sible person We use every possible precaution and admit the advertising of 
reliable houses only. But to make doubly sure, we will make good any loss 
to paid subscribers sustained by trusting any deliberate swindler, irrespon¬ 
sible advertisers or misleading advertisements in our columns, and any 
such swindler will be publicly exposed. We are also often called upon 
to adjust differences or mistakes between our subscribers and honest, 
responsible houses, whether advertisers or not. We willingly use our good 
offices to this end, but such cases should not be confused with dishonest 
transactions. We protect subscribers against rogues, but we will not be 
responsible for the debts of honest bankrupts sanctioned by the courts. 
Notice of the complaint must be sent to us within one month of the time or 
the transaction, and to identify it, you should mention The Rural New- 
Yorker when writing the advertiser. 
I shall work and vote for E. S. Brigham for Con¬ 
gress, because he is a man of the common people, an 
agricultural dairy farmer, and because with him in 
Congress, Vermont will have an able, thinking man at 
Washington who will not be afraid to let them know 
that the Green Mountain State is on the map. 
J. S. ROGERS. 
HAT is what one of our readers writes about the 
political situation in the First District of Ver¬ 
mont That is a straight and clear personal i>lat- 
form. We are making a careful canvass of the First 
District and find its people practically solid for Mr. 
Brigham. He is regarded as an able and honorable 
man, a native Vermonter with a full understanding 
of the needs of the State and its place in national 
affairs. We think the election of a man like Mr. 
Brigham will be a distinct gain to Congress. There 
are too many lightweights there now. We desire to 
make it clear that in advocating the election of Mr. 
Brigham we have no thought of' telling Vermont 
people what they ought to do. They know without 
being told. Our interest lies in the national aspect 
of such an election, for Congress will handle the 
matters which affect all of us. Therefore we are all 
interested in securing the highest type of men. 
* 
O N the first page Mr. Clingman discusses the 
Hopkins system of keeping up soil fertility. 
This system covers the use of ground limestone and 
raw phosphate rock with green crops. Mr. Cling¬ 
man wants to know why acid phosphate is consid¬ 
ered more reliable or useful than the raw rock. He 
should read the bulletins of the Ohio Experiment 
Station at Wooster. These bulletins review experi¬ 
ments which cover many years. They were carefully 
planned and worked out for the purpose of compar¬ 
ing acid phosphate and raw rock as a reinforcement 
for manure, and the results seem conclusive. On 
most Eastern farms the business is to turn plant 
food into salable products as rapidly as possible, 
rather than to store up large quantities of fertility 
in the soil. That is not always the best way to run 
a farm, but many farmers have fallen into the habit, 
and it is a part of that habit to use soluble plant 
food, and use it up at once. 
* 
A NUMBER of New York readers seems to think 
the new automobile law will compel them to 
insure their car or give a bond, whether they care to 
do so or not. The new law provides that in cities of 
the first class “every person, firm, association or cor¬ 
poration engaged in the business of carrying or 
transporting passengers for hire” must deposit with 
the commissioner at least two approved sureties, a 
corporate bond, or an approved insurance policy for 
$2,500. The object of this is to insure payment of 
any judgment received against such persons for 
death or for injury caused by motor vehicles. This 
regulation will be strictly enforced as regards city 
cars, but we do not see that it relates to country 
owners. 
* 
W HAT is the value of an apple tree? That old 
question keeps coining up. It has been pre¬ 
sented to us in several different ways lately. In one 
case a new road ordered by the State runs through 
a good orchard. Some 20 fine trees must be cut out. 
What should the owner receive for them? Again, 
sparks from a railroad engine started a fire which 
swept through an orchard and ruined a number of 
trees. What should the railroad pay? Once more, 
a man lias started to develop a fruit farm and has 
planted a number of tree, now of varying ages. A 
friend wants to come in as partner in the enterprise 
and buy a share in it. They know the value of the 
land, but what are the trees worth a.s a business 
enterprise? Any man who has grown fruit knows 
that some trees in his orchard have an earning value 
of .$100, while others have never paid for the time 
spent in developing them. We have one Baldwin 
tree which gave nearly .$60 worth of fruit in one 
year! It is not unlike the physical value of a man. 
We talked once with a man who, before the Civil 
War, bought and sold slaves. Some men of superior 
mind and body brought as high as $3,000, while 
others, about as large and strong, could hardly be 
given away. There could not be any market or def¬ 
inite price for either a man or an apple tree. The 
common rule is to value a healthy one-year-old tree 
at $1, and to add $1 for each year of its growth up 
to 25 years—'all based on the assumption that the 
tree is cared for reasonably; that is, kept in good, 
thriving condition. This is only a rough, thumb-nail 
estimate of values—but who can give a fairer one? 
* 
T HE average auto hog seems to have a strong 
liking for lilacs'—when they do not belong to 
him. He “gets away with it” too often, but over in 
Connecticut they put wooden nutmegs into his dish 
of joy, when they can catch him, as is shown in this 
clipping: 
Torrington, Monday, June 9 (Special to The Cour- 
ant).—Peter Panagatatore of Canaan, who was arrest¬ 
ed for stealing lilacs from a farm in Goshen was fined 
$50 with costs, making a total of $77.60, by Francis 
Ray Wadhams, justice of the peace, in Goshen, today. 
Being unable to pay his fine he was taken to the Litch¬ 
field jail. There have been many complaints of per¬ 
sons stealing foliage and flowers in large quantities for 
shipment to New York markets, and many more arrests 
are expected in order to check the depredations. Any¬ 
one taking flowers on the land of another without per¬ 
mission is liable. 
We do not know how many lilacs Mr. Panagata¬ 
tore got his fingers on, but it is true that these fel¬ 
lows will come and strip a bush, carry the flowers to 
the city and sell them. He deserves jail, but the 
trouble is that there are not enough men like Fran¬ 
cis Ray Wadhams weighing out justice and giving 
full measure. A justice of the peace miust sometimes 
be justice of war. In too many cases justice is not 
dispensed, but it is dispensed with. 
* 
S OME years ago we bought a good sized outfit of 
cherry trees. Impressed by the then demand 
for sour cherries we ordered several hundred of 
Montmorency, the leading sour variety. It looked 
like a safe and sure investment. There never were 
sour cherries enough in the market at that time and 
the habits of people were changing so that it seemed 
sure that the biting cherry acid would be demanded. 
As the trees grew it became evident that the nursery¬ 
man had worked in a number of misfits. Some 20 of 
the trees were of distinct shape quite different from 
Montmorency. Naturally, we thought we had been 
cheated. Another nursery fraud! Finally the trees 
fruited and the “misfits” proved to he Napoleons. 
They grew to perfection on our soil—large, sweet 
and firm. This year there was a great crop of both 
kinds. The market was flooded with sour cherries. 
We had a great crop but could hardly give it away. 
A good share of it did not bring the cost of picking 
and packing. It was even worse than the flood of 
poor Wealthy apples which comes pouring upon us 
just as our fine early fruit is ready. On the other 
hand the Napoleons were in good demand at about 
ordinary price. If our trees had all been of that 
variety there would have been a fine profit. Here 
is a case where the nurseryman’s “misfits” fit our 
condition like “the paper on the wall.” Would that 
he had misfitted the entire order. We are told to 
give the Devil his due—though our experience is that 
he will take his due before one has time to make 
any gifts. He is quite able to take care of himself 
in any business deal! But we give the nurseryman 
bis due in this case. Let him use his judgment if 
we are ever tempted to order any more sour cherry 
trees—or Wealthy apples! 
P ASSING through the rural sections of New 
England the observer can hardly avoid noticing 
two things—the great quantities of Red-top grass in 
the meadows and the great numbers of gasoline 
engines. There will be great stretches of bright red 
meadows which are hardly understood by a farmer 
from a limestone section. At first he thinks they 
represent fields filled with sorrel but on examina¬ 
tion they prove to be solid masses of Red-top grass, 
tall and thick and healthy. In some cases Timothy 
will be scattered through the field but it is usually 
of secondary importance. You will find but little 
Red clover in such fields though Alsike grows freely. 
A.ll this is usually as it should be; it does not mean 
poor or slovenly farming. The land is generally 
sour—lime is expensive and hard to obtain. Red- 
top and Alsike are well suited to such land. They 
have the ability to thrive on sour soil. While they 
will not produce as large a crop as Timothy and 
Red clover they are both of somewhat superior qual¬ 
ity for cattle feeding. Thus it is a case of natural 
selection or adapting the crop to the soil, and that is 
really the highest type of agriculture. A good share 
of our farm troubles today may he traced to the fact 
that some of our farmers are still trying to grow 
crops or to keep the kind of stock which are not 
suited to their soils. We think thei-e are a good 
many places where Red-top and Alsike will pay bet¬ 
ter than Timothy and Red clover. We have found it 
an advantage when seeding down to use a mixture 
of both grasses and both clovers. No field of any 
size is exactly even in quality. There are sure to be 
sour spots here and there even if the field has been 
well limed. The Red-top and Alsike will work into 
these spots and make a full stand. And Soy beans 
will surely do well on land where Alsike grows. 
These beans will prove a good substitute for Alfalfa 
on sour land. 
* 
A LL this talk about eating woodchucks means 
something. If, as they say, woodchuck meat is 
just as edible as rabbit or venison some of us are 
missing or neglecting a good food supply. If we con¬ 
sider the habits and food of a woodchuck we can 
find no reason why his meat should not equal that 
of the deer! A few investigators have eaten the 
meat of the skunk and they all, without exception, 
say it is “delicious.” Well, “every man to his taste.” 
Parkman tells us that the Indians were disgusted 
with the French because the latter consumed the 
meat of such a filthy animal as the hog. At one 
time tomatoes were considered poisonous. The aver¬ 
age white man would be made sick at the thought of 
eating seal meat yet Arctic explorers have passed 
an entire Winter on the ice “living on the country” 
which meant eating nothing but the meat of the seal. 
Maybe prejudice has caused us to put the wood¬ 
chuck in the list of unclean animals. Perhaps we 
would class him as “game” if we v T ere game enough 
to accept the challenge of one of our women readers. 
She claims that she can cook a fat young wood¬ 
chuck so that you cannot tell it from young lamb 
unless you are told in advance just what it is! We 
do not expect to break up the meat monopoly by ad¬ 
vocating the use of woodchuck but perhaps it is time 
for some of the objectors to tell us why the meat is 
unclean! 
* 
N EVER before did the State reach out so many 
arms to take private property for public use. 
Land is needed for reservoirs, roads, parks, building 
sites, canals or other purposes and thousands of 
acres are thus demanded every year. Under its 
constitution the State has the right to take this 
property when it can be shown that by doing so it 
satisfies a public benefit. It may obtain tire property 
by condenmnation when the owner w r ill not agree to 
the value decided by a committee. Many farmers 
are shocked when they find that while they may hold 
their property forever against individuals they can¬ 
not hold it against the State. There has been so 
much question about this that we shall give in a 
week or so a synopsis of the New York Condemna¬ 
tion Law, so that all may be prepared for it. 
Brevities 
Fat peaches are made by thinning. 
The sleeping dog kills no sheep. 
The culprit in the fruit package is the cull. 
There is more in the man than the land. 
It has been great weather for the hay crop. 
Thus far our reports seem to indicate that poisoned 
dust is more deadly to bees than liquid spray. 
They all came upon us in a bunch this year—cherry 
picking, haying, cutting oat hay, rye harvesting and 
cultivating. Such a bunching of hits does not make 
much of a hit with the farmer. 
A “tasteless” codliver oil is prepared in Norway 
and is to be used in making oleomargarine. This, if 
suc-cssful, will hurt our export trade in cottonseed, oil 
and neutral lard. Think of the codfish as a new rival 
for the cow! 
Doughnuts ! The extent of the business of making 
and eating these delicacies near New York City is shown 
by the fact that one concern making nothing but dough¬ 
nuts uses over $30,000 worth of lard alone each month. 
Thus a Yankee farm food invention moves to town. 
